


Wicked Little Game

by ythurielle



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pining, The Maze Runner AU, The Maze Runner Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 17:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21479770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ythurielle/pseuds/ythurielle
Summary: The Maze Trials project was a failure, at this point Jinyoung was sure of it.
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Wicked Little Game

**Author's Note:**

> `Hi OuO`   
`so,`   
`- this happened bc of thoseˇˇˇˇ pics in the Hey Guys photobook`   
`- i think it's understandable enough without reading/seeing the TMR series, but as such it contains major spoilers for the plot`   
`- i intentionally changed some aspects of the setup, think of it as an alternate WCKD facility in Asia`   
`- i was listening to Ashrad's Nightmare while writing and used a piece of the lyrics as title`   
`- english is not my first language`   
`- special thanks to my dear Leimyda for the beta-reading and reassurance <3`

▢▢

The Maze Trials project was a failure, at this point Jinyoung was sure of it.

▢▢

Jinyoung was only six years old when the world caught on fire, scorched by inexorable solar flares, followed by a virus that exterminated most of the survivors.

There weren't many children left. Those who survived and seemed healthy were collected by scientists of an organization called Wicked. They were fed, provided with shelter and education, but they weren’t allowed to leave the facility. When they were younger, it seemed like a small price in exchange for safety from the outside world. Some of them didn't even know any other life apart from the one in the labs. They were all raised with the belief that they can help save humanity. 

When Stage One of the Maze Trials started, they were all convinced that it was going to work. That it was necessary. That there was no other way. 

Jinyoung didn’t believe in that anymore.

▢▢

Jinyoung watched Jaebeom on the small monitor in his room. He watched him as often as he could, but that morning was different.

That morning Jaebeom was crying over Hyunwoo's mangled body, laid out in the green grass near the east gate of the Maze. Jinyoung could see him screaming - the sound was muted, he could not handle hearing it, watching it was hard enough. Still, he couldn’t look away. This is the only way he could be with Jaebeom, the only way to share his grief, so he watched, tears pouring down on his own face.

Hyunwoo deserved better. He deserved to _live_. They all did.

That morning was the turning point, the final straw.

Jinyoung couldn’t do this anymore. His friends were suffering, _dying_, and he just couldn’t sit around doing nothing about it any longer. 

He couldn’t watch another day of Jackson and Mark running around in the Maze aimlessly, couldn’t watch another night of Yugyeom crying himself to sleep terrified of the noise of the Grievers, Bambam losing any more weight, another boy falling victim of the Maze, another instance of Jaebeom agonizing with guilt over the loss of yet another child. And he would certainly not let Youngjae go in there. 

He had to get them all out, even if it meant destroying the whole facility.

▢▢

Jaebeom changed in the Maze, as expected. With the wiping, gone was the cocky little bastard who volunteered to go in first, and as more and more boys joined him in the Glade, Jaebeom's gentler, caring side came to surface. Jinyoung loved that cocky bastard, but he absolutely adored this new Jaebeom, too. Watching him bloom into a natural leader was amazing. Not only had he become the rock others could lean on, he also had a major hand in establishing and enforcing rules in the Glade, building a small but stable society in their isolation. No day went by without Jinyoung wishing to be there right by his side, to watch him from close, to offer a helping hand with running the Glade.

He missed Jaebeom more than anything. Knowing that the other did not remember their friendship, their years together, their nights together… It was an ambivalent feeling. There was some relief in the fact that Jaebeom was at least spared from the longing, but at the same time Jinyoung felt like he was bearing double the burden, taking over Jaebeom's part of suffering. While he would endure anything to make Jaebeom's life easier, he could not deny that on most of the days it hurt like hell.

Jinyoung didn’t mind watching as Jaebeom sometimes curled up with one of the younger boys on cool nights to offer the warmth and comfort. He didn’t mind it either when Jaebeom sneaked away from the general population of the Glade to a more secluded corner to find a different kind of comfort in the arms of Jackson, or Mark, or even Sungjin. Jinyoung wasn’t upset about him needing companionship, a way to deal with frustrations, he didn’t want Jaebeom to feel lonely. 

He just wished he could be there, too. He wished he wouldn't have to be alone on the outside. Alone in the overly air conditioned lab with a bunch of strict scientists, with no one else left from his own age group, just a bunch of younger boys, practically babies. No one to safely talk to about his worries, about his doubts. 

At this point he found both the claustrophobic dome of the Maze and the burning world outside the huge walls of the facility more favorable than the lab. He wanted out, or _ in and then out,_ one way or another.

▢▢

It took a very long time for Jinyoung to acknowledge reality. It’s difficult to see clearly when you are raised with strong beliefs. His awakening was gradual. Even when he started seeing the red flags, he still wanted to believe. He wanted to believe they were working on saving the world. He had to believe in a cure, because the alternative was accepting the doom of humanity.

It was inevitable though. Devastating as it was, Jinyoung had to realize that the kids were nothing more than disposable test subjects, barely more valuable in the eyes of Wicked than lab rats. The worst part to face was the fact that they were willing participants. Where he formerly saw the selfless hard work and sacrifice for the greater good, now he recognized that through twisted ways of manipulation, brainwashing, bribery and blackmailing, all they ended up doing was helping to design their own prison, digging their own grave without anything to gain. 

Jinyoung often dreamt about the morning when Jaebeom was sent up to the Maze. Jaebeom was nervous but confident, he tried to calm both of them. He took Jinyoung’s face in his palms, and not caring about the scientists around them busy with last minute preparations in the operating room he kissed him gently on the lips. It didn’t feel like a goodbye. They promised to see each other soon. It would be fine. They weren't too worried. They were both blissfully ignorant back then.

Things didn’t go as planned. Jinyoung would never forgive Wicked for leaving Jaebeom completely alone in the Glade for two weeks, brain wiped, confused and so alone, with only a handful of instructions to carry out, to launch the project. It was only supposed to be a few days, however schedules were switched around, tests were added. Watching Jaebeom during this period was a special kind of hell. Not being able to do anything to help him through his inevitable mental breakdowns, not being able to hold him and comfort him, not being able to communicate with him at all tore Jinyoung apart. Sometimes he still had nightmares about it. This was when Jinyoung first started doubting the project.

As the boys moved up to the Maze one by one, the scientists wanted to test more and more variables. Newer and newer obstacles were added to the Maze in a neverending threadmill every time the Gladers started getting closer to the solution of this massive puzzle, designed to stimulate the part of their brain affected by the virus further. Wicked hoped that by recording their brain patterns and using all the collected data about various factors during the project would help them figure out what was different in some of the kids' brain that made them immune to the virus.

Jinyoung dealt with the situation the only way he could. He started sucking up to the scientists more, made them trust him by working diligently on the execution of the project. He dug himself in the research as deeply as they let him. He needed to find out what exactly was going on in the background and why. 

The road there was hard. Numerous times he was the cause of the misery of his friends, hurting them in the process of throwing new challenges at them over and over. Sometimes he could make their lives a bit more comfortable by making small adjustments he could get away with, like raising the water temperature in the showers by a few degrees, cutting the duration of the artificial rain over the Glade shorter, or smuggling confectionaries in the supplies Wicked sent up regularly. There wasn’t much he could do, and after a while the harm done by far outweighed his futile efforts to help his friends. 

By the end of the first year of the project, Jinyoung lost hope. Wicked kept putting up a front, but it was conspicuous from all the delays and the documentation Jinyoung could get his hands on that the scientists were no closer to finding the cure than before the Maze Trials began. All the suffering was in vain. 

Maybe it was not too late to try other methods, to turn the research in a new direction for a cure or some other sort of solution, but the current process wasn’t working and it had to stop.

▢▢

Jinyoung spent the next few weeks planning. He planted cleverly hidden codes in the computer system that would cause cascade failure when triggered. He studied the schedules of the guards and stole a gun from one of them, he also learned the facility's schemes by heart. He started visiting the preparation room daily with the excuse of upgrading the delivery system to the Maze to make his presence there less suspicious for the guards when the right time came. And of course he kept very silent about his doubts and findings, holding up a polite and enthusiastic attitude until the very last minute. 

He left his room shortly after the night shift started. He stomped down on the familiar corridors toward the preparation room with his usual display of confidence. He smiled and nodded at the guard on the way who asked him if he couldn’t sleep. The man just nodded back, resuming his patrol, not hearing Jinyoung’s relieved sigh as he disappeared behind the corner.

Jinyoung’s heart clenched whenever he stepped into the preparation room, this time was no exception. How many boys did he send up to the Maze from here personally, convinced that this was the only way to find the cure, to save humankind? How many of those boys were dead by now? What would it take to clear his conscience?

He swallowed hard. Now was not the time to dwell on his sins and worry about atonement. 

He stepped to the computer and typed in the last few lines of his code that would close down the room, blocking the door and enable manual control over the elevator that would deliver him upstairs to the Maze. 

He tested the door, it was firmly shut. He took another look around the room, but in his mind, he was already imagining what it would be like to see his friends again in person, what it would be like to be hugged by Jaebeom again. Even if he didn’t remember Jinyoung, even if restoring his memories proved to be impossible after they got out, Jinyoung was determined to he could make it happen. They fell in love once, they could do it again. 

One of his feet was already on the floor of the elevator platform when he felt a sting on the back of his neck. Someone said his name. He turned around to see the leader of the facility in the open doorway, pointing a gun at him.

"Jinyoung. I am so sorry for having to stop you from finishing your mission." There was a tiny smile on his face and Jinyoung felt sick. _ Did he screw it up? Did they know everything? _ he wondered drowsily, reaching to his neck. _ Was that a tranquilizer? _

"You’ve been working so hard, we are very proud of you. Your acts of attempted sabotage provided us with invaluable data during these past months, we are truly grateful for that. However we cannot let you continue, I hope you understand.”

Jinyoung collapsed to the floor, feeling no pain from the fall. He could barely keep his eyes open. The leader of the facility stood over him, looking down at him with that nauseatingly fake smile still on his lips.

“The project must go on. It's for the future of humankind, after all. All we want is to save people, you know that. Wicked is good."

▢▢

Jinyoung woke up disoriented. The ground was hard and cold under his back, his fingers digging into smooth grass.

There was a boy leaning over him, blocking out part of Jinyoung's view of the starry night sky above them. A nearby bonfire illuminated the boy's concerned face. Jinyoung's eyes roamed over his features before fixating on his left eyelid, double-dotted with small moles. His face looked vaguely familiar, but Jinyoung couldn’t place it. He couldn’t remember.

He couldn’t remember anything.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> `you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ythurielle), talk to me, i'm lonely :")`


End file.
